1. July 4th Trivia Answers

    Thomas Jefferson died July 4, 1826 and a few short hours later was joined by… 

    John Adams, the same day. 

    Five years later James Monroe died on July 4, 1831

    … and Calvin Coolidge, the birthday boy, was born July 4, 1872

    (photos courtesy of the always informative Digital Gallery)

  2. We give you: the Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson’s hand. Click through to see all four pages. (Apologies for the fuzzy quality of the images.) Amazing, right? This artifact is in the NYPL’s Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, which contains several thousand original prints, drawings, watercolors, and printed book illustrations relating to early American history, primarily from the period leading to the American Revolution through the early years of the nation. In an NYPL blog post, Thomas Lannon, assistant curator of the Manuscripts & Archives Division, gives a history of this copy of the Declaration and explains how the Library came to own it. Happy Independence Day!

    We give you: the Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson’s hand. Click through to see all four pages. (Apologies for the fuzzy quality of the images.)

    Amazing, right? This artifact is in the NYPL’s Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, which contains several thousand original prints, drawings, watercolors, and printed book illustrations relating to early American history, primarily from the period leading to the American Revolution through the early years of the nation.

    In an NYPL blog post, Thomas Lannon, assistant curator of the Manuscripts & Archives Division, gives a history of this copy of the Declaration and explains how the Library came to own it.

    Happy Independence Day!